Great Gardening Gadgets

Updated on: March 31, 2010 / 12:30 PM
/ CBS

Shovels, trowels and pruning shears are essential for any gardener. But there are also plenty of new tools and gadgets out there designed to improve our green thumb. "Early Show" contributor Ahmed Hassan has been checking out some of the latest products available and he brought a few of his favorites on the broadcast Wednesday.

Rittenhouse Plant CaddieThis is a great new product from Rittenhouse. Say you're rearranging your outdoor landscape this spring and you've got a few big pots that you need to move around on your deck or patio. Just lift the container onto this little caddie, and you can roll it around. They can support up to 500 pounds and cost anywhere from $28 to $30. They're also available in three different sizes: 14, 16 and 20 inches in diameter.

Norpro Ceramic Compost KeeperI love this product. It's a ceramic compost keeper for your kitchen countertop. Instead of throwing out your leftover vegetables, orange rinds, egg shells, anything organic that makes good compost material can go in here. And it's got a charcoal filter under the lid that will keep the odor under control. Once its filled up, take it out to the backyard and dump it on your flowers and plants. It's a great, inexpensive way to make plant food. This product retails for about $25.

Garden Tool SetThis is a new garden tool set. The concept is nothing new, but I like this kit because of a couple different features. It comes with a couple small tools and a pair of gardening gloves, and even a little scarf to wipe the sweat away on a hot, muggy day. There's plenty of room for other tools, bags of seed, etc. and even a little pad to kneel on. It's available for $30 exclusively at Target stores, and will make a great gift for your mom or wife.

Scotts Handy Green IIThis is a nifty and inexpensive way to spread seed, fertilizer, etc. Using the more traditional approach of spreading seed with a cup can do a number on your wrist. With this, you just fill the compartment with your seed, hold the handle with one hand and crank the little knob to spread the seed. This also comes in handy in the winter for spreading rock salt. This will run you about $13 at a garden supply store or a Home Depot or Lowe's.

Rittenhouse Electro WeederEveryone's still searching for the magic bullet when it comes to weed control -- we've seen tools, sprays, etc. This device, called the Electro Weeder, is designed to kill weeds by literally heating them to death. The Electro-Weeder applies heat to the root, root crown and leaves of the weed to kill it. It actually uses electricity to heat a small ceramic heating stone to a temperature of approximately 400 degrees. Use the Electro-Weeder safely in mulched flowerbeds and turf to kill annoying weeds (of course regular safety precautions must be followed). This heat disrupts the normal functions of the weed causing death. The weed then becomes plant food for your flowers and bushes. Be careful though, you don't want to apply heat to your living plants and flowers. This product retails for $130.